Midnight Bookstore Chapter 176 – The Mastermind

“Amitabha, this penniless priest has finally found you, hehehe!”

When these words were released from the phone..,

zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang turned their gazes towards the old priest beside them.

The expression on the old priest's face was very colorful. There was shock, fear, confusion, and helplessness.

Yes..,

zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang had said before that this voice was a little familiar.

Now it was proven that this was actually the voice of the old priest.

However, the human voice that came out of the phone was inevitably a little distorted. Moreover, Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang did not expect the old priest's voice to appear in it, so they were caught under the lamp.

However, the phrase “Amitabha”followed by “Poor priest”was a common idiom used by the old priest. Especially the “Hehehe”after that, it was an even more vivid interpretation of the old priest's “Cheap look.”.

The old Taoist was a Taoist priest. His real name might even be forgotten by him sometimes. His name was Lu Fangweng. In ancient times, Lu you was also known as “Fangweng”. He was called Lu Fangweng, but although he had the same name as the great poet in ancient times.., however, the old Taoist priest's style of doing things was not much more reliable.

He fished for a side door and walked the jianghu. In the past few decades, he had done almost everything. He had always thought that he was a Taoist priest, but he did not have the slightest bit of responsibility to be a Taoist priest, other than the ancestral talismans that he had been hiding in his pants, which could still have some effect, there was almost no other characteristic of a Taoist priest on his body.

Even when he used the colloquial phrase “Heavenly venerate immeasurable”, he often referred to it as “Amitabha”.

When he saw that the boss and Xu Qinglang were looking at him..,

the old Taoist priest smiled embarra.s.sedly,

he pointed at his face and said,

“You can't possibly think that I'm the mastermind behind the scenes, right?”

Alright..,

generally speaking..,

the character who had the least sense of existence at the beginning of a suspense drama would usually walk up to the front stage and tear off his veil to give everyone a surprise. He was actually the murderer, and those who had danced happily from the start were often suspected from the start.., they were usually innocent.

But when it came to the old Daoist..,

was he the mastermind behind the scenes?

Was he standing behind the scenes and orchestrating all of this?

Xu Qinglang and Zhou Ze shook their heads slightly together. “Let's go out first.”

“Yes, that's right.”

The two of them turned around and walked out of the restaurant.

The old Daoist was still a little nervous at the beginning, afraid that the boss and the others would misunderstand something. However, when he saw that the boss and old Xu had actually given up on their suspicions, the old Daoist suddenly felt a little disappointed.

This feeling of being “Trusted”didn't seem to make people happy.

“Boss, why don't you think about it…”

Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang continued to walk forward without turning back.

“It's good to put on an act…”

The old priest felt a little helpless and could only follow them out.

From the restaurant to the rented villa, they didn't see any pedestrians on the way. The three of them returned to the hot spring pool.

Zhou Ze walked into the hot spring first and buried his face in it. When he raised his head again, he reached out to touch the water droplets on his face. The dark clouds in the sky and the dark atmosphere from before had disappeared.

It seemed that he was right. The entrance was actually this hot spring.

The old priest and Xu Qinglang had also returned. Everyone's clothes were wet. Obviously, the s.p.a.ce they were in before wasn't a completely independent place. Instead, it relied on a supernatural “Environment”in the real world.

For example, when they were lying in the hot spring, Zhou Ze and the others were naked. They only ran out of the pool after the old priest took out a thigh from the pool and put on clothes before leaving the room.

Now, the clothes were still on the three of them, and the old priest was still wrapped in a bathrobe.

The hot spring pool was a bit like a hypnotic pendulum clock, allowing you to see more things. However, in reality, you might have only seen “Illusions”, and you were still walking in the real world.

Sometimes, Zhou Ze could not help but suspect that there were many lunatics in this world who liked to talk nonsense. They were regarded by the people around them as the typical example of “Sick in the head, mentally abnormal”. Did that mean that.., in fact, could people really see a “World”that relied on reality but was invisible to ordinary people?

Of course, this was like the annual reports of natural and accidental deaths in many countries around the world. In fact, there were many murder cases that were never discovered and investigated. The exact situation was really unknown.

Xu Qinglang took off his clothes and changed into a bathrobe. Then, he walked in front of Zhou Ze and motioned him to take off his wet clothes. Then, he hung the clothes of both of them on the clothes rack outside to dry.

Zhou Ze sat on the sofa in the living room and played with his phone.

The old priest sat next to him and made tea with the boiled water from the electric kettle. Then, he handed a cup to Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze took the Teacup and shook it. He said, “Old Xu, have you seen a movie called the s.h.i.+ning?”

“That horror movie?”Xu Qinglang asked.

“Yes, I think the situation we're facing now is similar to the s.h.i.+ning. The reality and the illusion are indistinguishable. In addition, the scene where the residents who died here and those who died nearby all ate together is very similar to the picture in the s.h.i.+ning.”

“So, what do you mean?”Xu Qinglang took a sip of tea. “Such a big appet.i.te?”

Zhou ze shook his head. “I don't want to care about the secrets of this place for the time being. Anyway, it's here, and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. To be honest, I've already somewhat forgotten why we're here.

“Forget it. Let's find the murderer of that family of three first before we talk about anything else. The key is that ghost's call. We have to figure it out. Otherwise, I'll always feel uncomfortable.”

Speaking of the ghost's call, Zhou Ze looked at the old priest again. How did the old priest's voice appear on the phone?

Could it be that the person on the phone knew ventriloquism? Did he know how to imitate the old priest's voice and way of speaking?

“Ding Dong… Ding Dong…”

Someone was ringing the doorbell outside.

The old priest stood up to open the door. There was a waiter standing outside. He asked with some concern, “h.e.l.lo, I'm here to ask if you need any help?”

“Help?”The old Taoist was a little confused.

“It's like this. I saw the three of you walking around the restaurant and talking. I called for you, but you didn't respond, so I specially came to inquire. If you are hungry and want to eat, we can start a little earlier. After all, there are not many guests in the restaurant now.”

“No, thank you,”the old Taoist refused.

“Okay, I Won't Disturb Your Rest.”The waiter nodded with a smile.

The old man closed the door and shouted to Zhou ze and the others, “Boss, the hotel waiter came to see if we were sleepwalking together. Haha.”

“It's better not to go in together next time. At least one or two people should stay by the side to watch,”Zhou Ze said.

Xu Qinglang nodded. “I don't look good right now. I'm going to wash my face and take care of my skin. I'll plan my next move at night.”

“Okay, let's Rest first,”Zhou Ze agreed.

Then, Zhou Ze stood up and walked to the hot spring from the living room. He pointed at the hot spring and said, “Old Taoist, you found a human leg here in the beginning, didn't you?”

“Yes, a woman's leg. If it was a man's leg, it would probably be…”as the old Taoist said that, he secretly glanced at the room.

He had really admitted his mistake at the beginning, thinking that Lao Xu was teasing him.

“Drain the water in the pool,”said Zhou Ze.

The old Taoist nodded. At this time, the hot spring pool had cooled down. Although the water was still warm, there was no fog. The old Taoist went down barefoot to pull out the piston, and the water began to be slowly lowered.

“A human leg. It should be real.”

Zhou ze lit a cigarette and said quietly,

“This incident seems to be a little big. That family of three seemed to be only a catalyst. That family of three had their heads cut off, and as a result, there was once a leg in this hot spring pool.”

He blew out a smoke ring,

“After the case of another family of three happened, the reason this hot spring hotel was still able to continue operating was also because that family of three died on the way out of the hotel. It was not an accident that happened in the hotel.

“However, the truth doesn't seem to be like this. Old Xu had said before that the family of three was searching for their lost heads in the hotel room. Now, it seems that someone had dismembered a leg here a long time ago, “Although the leg is now invisible, since we can see it in that state, it means that it has appeared before.”

“Boss, are you suspecting that the murderer is an internal member of this hotel?”

“It's not just that.”Zhou ze shook the ash off his cigarette. “I'm even beginning to suspect whether this is a hot spring resort hotel or a slaughterhouse.”

As he spoke, Zhou ze tried to grow a fingernail on his left hand. A cloud of black fog immediately condensed on his palm. Then, Zhou ze stuck his fingernail upside down beside the hot spring pool.

This was the method that Zhou ze used to find the spirits of the dead nearby. Now, he was just randomly trying it out. Anyway, he had no other clues now.

Who knew that it would be better if he didn't try it out,

after trying it out, he found that there were actually black footprints here,

this series of footprints stretched from the hot spring pool all the way to the living room.

There really were?

Zhou ze raised his head and walked along the series of footprints.

The footprints turned a corner in the living room and went straight into the bathroom.

At that moment, Xu Qinglang was was.h.i.+ng her face with facial cleanser in the bathroom. At that moment, she was applying skincare products on her face in front of the mirror and carefully touching herself in the mirror.

As for the footprints..,

after they extended to the bathroom sink, they began to grow upwards again. That thing must have climbed onto the sink.

After it climbed onto the sink..,

where did it go?

Zhou ze reached out and patted Xu Qinglang's shoulder.

“What?”Xu Qinglang asked as she continued to Pat her face in the mirror.

Zhou ze used his fingernails to gently rub the mirror,

xu Qinglang stopped her hand from patting her face,

as for her in the mirror..,

she continued to Pat her face carefully and seriously,

he had no intention of stopping.

“Pa Pa Pa…”